West foes on tap in preseason

July 16, 2008|BY CHRIS KUC

The Blackhawks will get an early look at some Western Conference foes during the 2008-09 preseason. The Hawks' preseason schedule was announced Tuesday and shows them opening with three straight home games, beginning Sept. 23 with the Columbus Blue Jackets, followed by the Minnesota Wild Sept. 26 and the Dallas Stars Sept. 28.

Four road games follow -- Sept. 29 at Columbus, Sept. 30 at Minnesota, Oct. 2 at Dallas and Oct. 3 at Colorado -- before the preseason finale Oct. 5 against the Avalanche at the United Center. Tickets are on sale.

Weeknight games again will begin at 7:30 p.m. this season despite team President John McDonough's desire for an earlier start. Broadcasting issues prevented the time change. The regular-season schedule is expected to be announced Wednesday or Thursday.

In the fold

The Hawks signed three players Tuesday, including Colin Fraser, who appeared in five games with the team last season. The center also played 75 games with the Hawks' American Hockey League affiliate Rockford last season and had 17 goals and 41 points. ... Free-agent defensemen Aaron Johnson and Doug Janik also signed one-year deals. Johnson had two assists and 30 penalty minutes in 30 games with the New York Islanders last season, while Janik had a goal and three assists in 61 games with Tampa Bay.

Conventioning

The organization announced the schedule for the Blackhawks Convention at the Hilton Chicago this weekend. It will begin at 5 p.m. Friday and events, including discussions with team officials, broadcasters and current and former players and autograph sessions, run through Sunday.